The most productive pilot of the Second World War. Aces of World War II, Soviet pilots

Aces of the Luftwaffe in World War II

Germany undoubtedly had the best fighter pilots in World War II. In both the East and the West, Luftwaffe experts shot down Allied aircraft in the thousands.

During World War I, fighter pilots, aces were on both belligerent sides. Their personal, knight-like exploits were a welcome contrast to the unnamed bloodshed in the trenches.
Five downed enemy planes served as the threshold for the awarding of ace status, although the accounts of outstanding pilots were much higher.
In Germany, a pilot's personal account was requested each time before receiving the coveted "Pour le Merite" - the highest award of the Empire for bravery, also known as the "Blue Max".

Pour le Merite - Blue Max, the Empire's highest honor for bravery

This award did not adorn Hermann Goering's neck until 1918, when he shot down more than 20 enemy aircraft. In total for the first world war"Blue Max" awarded 63 pilots.

Hermann Goering on the neck of the Blue Max

Since 1939, Goering introduced the same system when Hitler's best pilots fought for the Knight's Cross. Compared to the First World War, the threshold was increased several times, and the question of awarding the highest categories of the Knight's Cross was submitted to the Luftwaffe aces for outstanding victorious achievements. Thirty-five German aces shot down 150 or more Allied aircraft, the total score of the top ten experts is 2552 aircraft.

Knight's Crosses of the Third Reich 1939

The tactical advantage of the Luftwaffe aces

The Luftwaffe had a head start over their opponents thanks to the Spanish Civil War. The Condor Legion included a significant number of future aces from the top ranks, including Werner Mölders, who shot down 14 Republic aircraft.

Combat practice in Spain forced the Luftwaffe to reject some tactics from the First World War and develop new ones. This constituted a huge advantage for Germany at the time of the outbreak of World War II.

Germany had the first-class Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter, but the Allied aircraft were at least as good, but remained faithful to the pre-war tactics of 1940.The squadrons persisted in flying in close formation of three aircraft, which required the pilots to concentrate on building. They were observing in the sky mainly against the sun. German aircraft flew in loose pairs and groups of four known as the swarm (schwam).

Werner Mölders with officers 1939 g

The British eventually copied this formation, calling it "four fingers" because the swarm consisted of two pairs arranged like the fingers of an outstretched hand.

A significant number of German pilots achieved impressive results in battles against Britain. Werner Mölders' personal account was 13 aircraft shot down during the Battle of Britain and 22 more aircraft shot down in the West before being sent to Russia.

Werner Mölders is the most prolific ace of the Luftwaffe Civil war in Spain. The first to receive the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, had 115 victories and died in 1941.

The funeral of German ace Werner Melders 1941, Reichsmarschall Goering is following the coffin

After the Battle of Britain, Luftwaffe victories became rare. An opportunity turned up in North Africa, and since June 1941 - in the "anti-Bolshevik crusade”Started in the East.

Major Helmud Wikk became the highest scoring ace when, on the morning of November 28, 1940, he added another downed Spitfire to his 56 wins total. But the Wicca record was soon surpassed. Hauptmann Hans Joachim Marseil ultimately shot down 158 aircraft, of which 151 over North Africa; he once shot down 17 RAF planes in one day !!! I just can't believe it.

Helmud Wick the number of victories of the German ace grows August 1940 Bf-109E4

Hans Joachim Marseil is the most productive pilot in the Western theater of operations, the Nazi press awarded him the title of "Star of Africa".

Air war over the Reich.

Two years later, the main task of the Luftwaffe was to protect their home. British heavy bombers attacked the Reich at night, US bombers operated during the day. The night air war spawned its own aces, and two of them boasted over a hundred victories.

For daytime interceptions, fighters were first attracted to attack non-escorted American bombers. But the bombers flew in close formation, so the fighters could be shot down by an intimidating number of heavy machine guns. However, if it was possible to separate the bomber from the formation, then it could be destroyed with less risk.

The results of the attacks were formally counted according to the German "system of results" showing the progress of the pilot to the highest awards for bravery. The destruction of a four-engined bomber was estimated at 3 points, and the separation of one from the formation gave 2 points. Downed enemy fighter was estimated at 1 point.

The one who scored twelve points deserved the German Cross in gold, for 40 points the Knight's Cross was given.

Chief Lieutenant Egon Mayer is the first to shoot down a hundred planes in the sky Western Europe... He found that The best way to attack a formation of US bombers is to enter them directly in the forehead with a slight excess in height. Only a few bomber machine guns could fire in this direction, and hitting the bomber's cockpit - the right way send the plane to the ground.

But the speed of convergence at the same time terribly increased, the fighter pilot had at best one second to get away, otherwise he could collide with his target. Ultimately, the US Air Force added a machine-gun turret in front of the fuselage of its B-17s, but Mayer's tactics continued until the end of the war.

The armament of some of the Focke-Wulfs Fw-190 was increased to six 20-mm cannons, which gave them a chance to destroy the bomber in the first run. But as a result, the planes became slower and less maneuverable, requiring cover from American single-seat fighters.

The use of R4M air-to-air rockets has created a new tension between firepower and performance.

Note that a small part of the pilots accounted for a huge share of the downed aircraft. At least 15 experts shot down 20 four-engined US bombers each, three aces destroyed over 30 planes each.

The appearance of the American P-51 Mustangs over Berlin signaled the approach of the war to the end, although Goering did not recognize their existence, believing that he could drive them away.

Aces of the Luftwaffe in World War II

In 1944, luck turned away from many experts. The fighters of the allies were not inferior, or even surpassed their German opponents, and there were much more of them.

Allied pilots were sent into battle after intense training, while the new Luftwaffe pilots entered the battle with less and less training. Allied pilots reported a constant drop in the average skill level of their opponents, although it was always a surprise for them to engage in combat with one of the experts. Such as the emergence of the jet Me-2b2.

Continued watching Asy Goering on different fronts

Our aces pilots during the Great Patriotic War terrified the Germans. The exclamation "Akhtung! Akhtung! Pokryshkin is in the sky!" Became widely known. But Alexander Pokryshkin was not the only Soviet ace. We remembered the most productive.

Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub

Ivan Kozhedub was born in 1920 in the Chernigov province. He is considered the most effective Russian fighter pilot in personal combat, having shot down 64 aircraft on his account. The beginning of the career of the renowned pilot was unsuccessful, in the first battle his plane was seriously damaged by the enemy Messerschmitt, and when returning to the base he was still fired at by mistake by Russian anti-aircraft gunners, and only by a miracle he managed to land. The plane could not be restored, and they even wanted to re-profile the unlucky newcomer, but the regiment commander stood up for him. It was only during his 40th sortie at the Kursk Bulge that Kozhedub, having already become a "baty" - deputy squadron commander, shot down his first "bastard", as ours called the German "Junkers". After that, the score went to tens.

The last battle in the Great Patriotic War, in which he shot down 2 FW-190s, Kozhedub spent in the skies over Berlin. In addition, Kozhedub also credited two American Mustang aircraft shot down in 1945, which attacked him, mistaking his fighter for a German aircraft. The Soviet ace acted according to the principle that he professed even when working with cadets - "any unknown aircraft is an enemy." Throughout the war, Kozhedub was never shot down, although his plane often received very serious damage.

Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin

Pokryshkin is one of the most famous aces of Russian aviation. Was born in 1913 in Novosibirsk. He won his first victory on the second day of the war, shooting down the German Messerschmitt. In total, he has 59 personally shot down planes and 6 in the group. However, this is only official statistics, since, being the commander of an air regiment, and then an air division, Pokryshkin sometimes gave downed aircraft to young pilots in order to encourage them in this way.

His notebook entitled "Fighter Tactics in Combat" became a real manual for air warfare. They say that the Germans warned about the appearance of a Russian ace with the phrase: “Akhtung! Ahtung! Pokryshkin is in the air. " The one who knocked down Pokryshkin was promised a big reward, but the Russian pilot was too tough for the Germans. Pokryshkin is considered the inventor of the "Kuban whatnot" - a tactical technique for air combat, the Germans nicknamed him "the Kuban escalator", since the planes located in pairs resembled a giant staircase. In battle, German aircraft leaving the first stage fell under the blow of the second, and then the third stage. Other of his favorite techniques were "falconry" and "speed swing". It is worth noting that Pokryshkin won most of his victories in the early years of the war, when the Germans had a significant advantage in the air.

Nikolay Dmitrievich Gulaev

Born in 1918 in the village of Aksayskaya not far from Rostov. His first fight is reminiscent of the feat of Grasshopper from the movie "Only Old Men Go to Battle": without an order, for the first time in his life, taking off at night under the howl of an air raid on his Yak, he managed to shoot down the German Heinkel night fighter. For such self-righteousness, he was punished, while presenting him for an award.

In the future, Gulaev usually did not limit himself to one downed plane during the flight, he won four victories a day three times, destroyed three aircraft twice, and made a double in seven battles. In total, he shot down 57 planes personally and 3 in the group. One enemy plane Gulaev, when he ran out of ammunition, took to the ram, after which he himself got into a tailspin and barely had time to eject. His risky fighting style has become a symbol of the romantic direction in the art of aerial combat.

Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov

Was born in 1920 in the Perm province. On the eve of the war, a mild degree of color blindness was found on the medical-flight commission, but the regimental commander did not even look at the medical report - the pilots were very much needed. He won his first victory on an outdated biplane I-153 at number 13, which was unhappy for the Germans, as he joked. Then he got into Pokryshkin's group and was trained on the "Airacobra" - an American fighter that became famous for its cool temper - it very easily went into a tailspin at the slightest pilot error, the Americans themselves were reluctant to fly on such. In total, he shot down 56 planes personally and 6 in the group. Perhaps none of our other ace on a personal account has such a variety of types of downed aircraft as Rechkalov, these are bombers, and ground attack aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft, and fighters, and transport aircraft, and relatively rare trophies - "Savoy" and PZL -24.

Georgy Dmitrievich Kostylev

Born in Oranienbaum, present-day Lomonosov, in 1914. He began his flight practice in Moscow at the legendary Tushino airfield, where the Spartak stadium is now being built. The legendary Baltic ace, who covered the sky over Leningrad, won the largest number victories in naval aviation, personally shot down at least 20 enemy aircraft and 34 in a group.

He shot down his first Messerschmitt on July 15, 1941. He fought on the British "Hurricane" received under the lend-lease, on the left side of which there was a large inscription "For Russia!" In February 1943, he ended up in a penal battalion for routing a major in the commissary's service. Kostylev was amazed at the abundance of food with which he treated his guests, and could not restrain himself, because he knew firsthand what was happening in the besieged city. He was stripped of his awards, demoted to the Red Army and sent to the Oranienbaum bridgehead, to the places where he spent his childhood. The penalties saved the hero, and in April he again raises his fighter into the air and defeats the enemy. Later he was reinstated in rank, the awards were returned, but he never received the second Star of the Hero.

Maresyev Alexey Petrovich

A man-legend, who became the prototype of the hero of Boris Polevoy's story "The Story of a Real Man", a symbol of the courage and resilience of the Russian warrior. Born in 1916 in the city of Kamyshin, Saratov province. In a battle with the Germans, his plane was shot down, the pilot wounded in the legs managed to land on the territory occupied by the Germans. After that, for 18 days he crawled out to his own, in the hospital both legs were amputated. But Maresyev managed to return to duty, he learned to walk on prostheses and again ascended into the sky. At first they did not trust him, anything can happen in battle, but Maresyev proved that he can fight no worse than others. As a result, 7 more German planes were added to the 4 German planes shot down before being wounded. 7 Soviet army there is no one to fight, you have to send disabled people.

Popkov Vitaly Ivanovich

This pilot should also be mentioned, because it was he who became one of the most famous incarnations of the ace pilot in cinema - the prototype of the famous Maestro from the film "Only Old Men Go to Battle". The "Singing Squadron" really existed in the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, where Popkov served, it had its own choir, and two planes were presented to it by Leonid Utesov himself.

Popkov was born in Moscow in 1922. He won his first victory in June 1942 over the town of Holm. He took part in battles on the Kalinin Front, on the Don and the Kursk Bulge. In total, he flew 475 combat missions, conducted 117 air battles, personally shot down 41 enemy aircraft plus 1 in the group. On the last day of the war, Popkov shot down the legendary German Hartman, the most productive ace of World War II, in the skies over Brno, but he managed to land and stay alive, although this still did not save him from captivity. Popkov's popularity was so great that a monument was erected to him during his lifetime in Moscow.

Looking through electronic library came across quite interesting material about how the Germans and ours considered their victories in air battles during the Second World War, the author cited quite Interesting Facts testifying that not all was well with the counting of downed planes both among the aces of the Lutwaffe and among the aviators of the Red Army, I present to your attention an excerpt from this material.

When, for the first time in the domestic press, data on the personal accounts of German fighter pilots were published in a small note in the newspaper Argumenty i Fakty for 1990, the three-digit figures came as a shock to many. It turned out that the blond 23-year-old Major Erich Hartmann claimed 352 downed aircraft, including 348 Soviet and four American.
His colleagues in the 52nd Luftwaffe Fighter Squadron Gerhard Barkhorn and Gunther Rall reported 301 and 275 shot down respectively.
These figures contrasted sharply with the results of the best Soviet fighter pilots, 62 victories of I.N. Kozhedub and 59 - A.I. Pokryshkin.


Erich Hartmann in the cockpit of his Bf.109G-6.

Heated discussions immediately flared up about the method of counting downed ones, confirmation of the success of fighter pilots by ground services, photo machine guns, etc. That is, the aces of the Luftwaffe lied about their successes, and in reality they shot down no more aircraft than Pokryshkin and Kozhedub.

However, few people thought about the expediency and validity of a head-on comparison of the results of the combat activities of pilots who fought in different conditions, with different intensity of combat work.

No one has tried to analyze the value of an indicator such as " greatest number knocked down "from the point of view of the body air force of this particular country as a whole. What are hundreds of knocked downs, biceps girth or body temperature of a patient with a fever?

Attempts to explain the difference in the number of people knocked down by a flawed method of counting do not stand up to scrutiny. Serious flaws in the confirmation of the results of the fighter pilots are found on both sides of the conflict.

An enemy plane was considered shot down, for example, according to a report from a fighter pilot claiming to destroy it, "randomly fell down and disappeared into the clouds."

Often it was the change in the flight parameters of the enemy aircraft, a sharp decrease, a spin, observed by witnesses of the battle, that began to be considered a sign sufficient to enroll victory. It is not hard to guess that after the "indiscriminate fall" the plane could have been leveled by the pilot and returned safely to the airfield.

In this respect, the fantastic accounts of the aerial gunners of the Flying Fortresses are indicative, who chalked up the Messerschmitts every time they left the attack, leaving a smoky trail behind them. This trace was a consequence of the peculiarities of the "Me.109" engine, which gave a smoky exhaust afterburner and in an inverted position.

Naturally, when conclusions about the results of an attack were made on the basis of general words, problems arose even with recording the results of air battles conducted over their territory. Let's take the most typical example, the air defense of Moscow, the pilots of the well-trained 34th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Here are the lines from a report presented at the end of July 1941 by the regiment commander, Major L.G. Rybkin to the air corps commander:

"... During the second sortie on July 22 at 2.40 am in the Alabino - Naro-Fominsk area at an altitude of 2500 m, Captain MG Trunov caught up with the Ju88 and attacked from the rear hemisphere. The enemy dropped to a shaving one. Captain Trunov jumped forward and lost the enemy. to believe the plane was shot down. "

"... During the second takeoff on July 22 at 23.40 in the Vnukovo area, junior lieutenant A.G. Lukyanov attacked a Ju88 or Do215. In the Borovsk area (10-15 km north of the airfield) three long bursts were fired at the bomber. C hits were clearly visible on the ground. The enemy fired back and then dropped sharply.

"... Junior Lieutenant NG Shcherbina on July 22 at 2.30 in the Naro-Fominsk region from a distance of 50 m fired two bursts into a twin-engine bomber. At that time, anti-aircraft artillery opened fire on the MiG-3, and the enemy's plane was lost. The plane can be considered shot down. "

At the same time, reports of this kind were typical of the Soviet Air Force in the initial period of the war. And although in each case the commander of the air division notes that "there is no confirmation" (there is no information about the fall of enemy aircraft), in all these episodes, victories were recorded at the expense of the pilots and the regiment.

The result of this was a very significant discrepancy in the number of downed Luftwaffe bombers declared by the Moscow air defense pilots with their real losses.

In July 1941, the air defense of Moscow fought 89 battles during 9 raids by German bombers, in August - 81 battles during 16 raids. 59 were reported downed "vultures" in July and 30 in August.

Enemy documents confirm 20-22 aircraft in July and 10-12 in August. The number of victories for air defense pilots was overestimated by about three times.

The opponents of our pilots on the other side of the front and the allies spoke in the same spirit. In the first week of the war, June 30, 1941, over Dvinsk (Daugavpils) a grand air battle took place between the DB-3, DB-3F, SB and Ar-2 bombers of three air regiments of the Baltic Fleet Air Force and two groups of the 54th fighter squadron of the 1st German air fleet.

In total, 99 Soviet bombers took part in the raid on the bridges near Daugavpils. German fighter pilots alone reported 65 shot down Soviet aircraft. Erich von Manstein writes in "Victories Lost": "In one day, our fighters and flak shot down 64 planes. "

The real losses of the Baltic Fleet Air Force amounted to 34 aircraft shot down, and another 18 were damaged, but safely landed at their own or the nearest Soviet airfield.

There is no less than a twofold excess of victories declared by the pilots of the 54th fighter squadron over the real losses of the Soviet side. Recording an enemy fighter pilot's account that safely reached its airfield was a common occurrence.

The battles between the Flying Fortresses, Mustangs, Thunderbolts of the United States and the Reich air defense fighters produced a completely identical picture.

In a fairly typical air battle for the Western Front, which unfolded during the raid on Berlin on March 6, 1944, the escort fighter pilots declared 82 destroyed, 8 presumably destroyed and 33 damaged German fighters.

Bomber shooters reported 97 destroyed, 28 supposedly destroyed and 60 damaged German air defense fighters.

If you add these applications together, it turns out that the Americans destroyed or damaged 83% of the German fighters that took part in repelling the raid! The number of those declared destroyed (that is, the Americans were sure of their death) - 179 aircraft - more than double the actual number of shot down 66 Me.109, FV-190 and Me.110 fighters.

In turn, the Germans immediately after the battle reported the destruction of 108 bombers and 20 escort fighters. Another 12 bombers and fighters were among the allegedly shot down.

In fact, the US Air Force lost 69 bombers and 11 fighters during the raid. Note that in the spring of 1944, both sides had photo-machine guns.

Sometimes attempts are made to explain the high scores of the German aces by some kind of system, in which a two-engine aircraft was counted for two "victories", a four-engine aircraft - as much as four.

This is not true. The system for counting the victories of fighter pilots and points for the quality of those shot down existed in parallel. After the shooting down of the Flying Fortress, the Reich air defense pilot drew one, I emphasize, one strip on the keel.

But at the same time, he was awarded points, which were subsequently taken into account when awarding and assigning new titles.

In the same way, in the Air Force of the Red Army, parallel to the system of recording the victories of the aces, there was a system of monetary bonuses for downed enemy aircraft, depending on their value for the air war.

These wretched attempts to "explain" the difference between 352 and 62 indicate only linguistic illiteracy. The term "victory", which came to us from the English-language literature about the German aces, is a product of double translation.

If Hartmann scored 352 "victories", this does not mean that he claimed 150-180 single and twin-engine aircraft. The original German term is abschuss, which the 1945 German-Russian Military Dictionary interprets as “shot down”.

The British and Americans translated it as victory - "victory", which later migrated into our literature about the war. Accordingly, the marks of the downed on the keel of the aircraft in the form of vertical stripes were called by the Germans "abschussbalken" (abschussbalken).

The pilots themselves experienced serious mistakes in identifying their own shot down, seeing enemy aircraft, if not from tens, then from hundreds of meters. What then can we say about the VNOS Red Army soldiers, which recruited fighters unsuitable for combat service. Often they simply passed off wishful thinking and identified an unknown type aircraft falling into the forest as an enemy plane.

The researcher of the air war in the North, Yuri Rybin, gives such an example. After the battle that took place near Murmansk on April 19, 1943, observers of the VNOS posts reported on the fall of four enemy aircraft. Four victories were confirmed to the pilots by the notorious "ground services". In addition, all participants in the battle announced that Captain Sorokin of the Guard shot down the fifth Messerschmitt. Although he was not confirmed by the VNOS posts, he was also credited to the combat account of the Soviet fighter pilot.

After some time, those who went in search of the shot down groups found instead of four shot down enemy fighters ... one Messerschmitt, one Airacobra and two Hurricanes. That is, the VNOS posts phlegmatically confirmed the fall of four aircraft, including those shot down by both sides.

All of the above applies to both sides of the conflict. Despite the theoretically more perfect system of accounting for the shot down, the Luftwaffe aces often reported something unimaginable.

Take as an example two days, May 13 and 14, 1942, the height of the Battle of Kharkov. On May 13, the Luftwaffe announces 65 downed Soviet aircraft, 42 of which are credited to Group III of the 52nd Fighter Squadron.

The next day, the pilots of Group III of the 52nd Fighter Squadron report on 47 Soviet aircraft shot down during the day. The commander of the 9th squadron of the group Herman Graf announced six victories, his wingman Alfred Grislavsky chalked up two MiG-3s, Lieutenant Adolf Dickfeld announced nine (!) Victories that day.

The real losses of the Red Army Air Force were three times less on May 14, 14 aircraft (5 Yak-1, 4 LaGG-3, 3 Il-2, 1 Su-2 and 1 R-5). MiG-3s are simply not on this list.

The "Stalinist falcons" did not remain in debt either. On May 19, 1942, twelve Yak-1 fighters from the 429th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which had just arrived at the front, engage in battle with a large group of Messerschmitts and, after a half-hour air battle, declare the destruction of five He-115 and one Me. 109 ". The "Xe-115" should be understood as a modification of the "Bf.109F", which differed greatly in its slicked fuselage with a smooth transition between the propeller spinner and the engine hood from the angular "Bf.109E", which is more familiar to our pilots.

However, the enemy's data confirm the loss of only one Xe-115, that is, the Bf.109F-4 / R1 from the 7th squadron of the 77th fighter squadron. The pilot of this fighter, Karl Stefanik, has gone missing.

The 429th regiment's own losses amounted to four Yak-1s, three pilots successfully landed on parachutes, one was killed.

As always, the enemy's losses were claimed to be slightly greater than their own. This was often one way to justify the high losses of their aircraft in the face of command.

For unjustified losses, they could have been sentenced to a tribunal, but if these losses were justified by the equally high losses of the enemy, an equivalent exchange, so to speak, then repressive measures could be safely avoided.

The names of the Soviet aces of the Great Patriotic War Ivan Kozhedub and Alexandra Pokryshkina known to everyone who is at least superficially familiar with Russian history.

Kozhedub and Pokryshkin are the most productive Soviet fighter pilots. On the account of the first 64 enemy aircraft, shot down personally, on the account of the second - 59 personal victories, and he shot down 6 more aircraft in the group.

The name of the third most effective Soviet pilot is known only to aviation enthusiasts. Nikolay Gulaev during the war, he destroyed 57 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in a group.

An interesting detail - Kozhedub took 330 sorties and 120 air battles to achieve his result, Pokryshkin - 650 sorties and 156 air battles. Gulaev, on the other hand, achieved his result, having carried out 290 sorties and carried out 69 air battles.

Moreover, according to the award documents, in his first 42 air battles, he destroyed 42 enemy aircraft, that is, on average, each battle ended for Gulaev with a destroyed enemy vehicle.

Fans of military statistics calculated that the coefficient of efficiency, that is, the ratio of air battles and victories, for Nikolai Gulaev was 0.82. For comparison - for Ivan Kozhedub it was 0.51, and for Hitler's ace Erich Hartmann, who officially shot down the largest number of aircraft during the Second World War - 0.4.

At the same time, people who knew Gulaev and who fought with him claimed that he generously recorded many of his victories on the wingmen, helping them to receive orders and money - Soviet pilots were paid for each downed enemy plane. Some believe that the total number of aircraft shot down by Gulaev could have reached 90, which, however, cannot be confirmed or refuted today.

Heroes Soviet Union pilots Alexander Pokryshkin (second from left), Grigory Rechkalov (center) and Nikolai Gulaev (right) on Red Square. Photo: RIA Novosti

Don guy

Many books have been written and many films have been made about Alexander Pokryshkin and Ivan Kozhedub, three times Heroes of the Soviet Union, aviation marshals.

Nikolai Gulaev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, was close to the third "Golden Star", but he never received it and did not become a marshal, remaining a colonel general. And in general, if in the post-war years Pokryshkin and Kozhedub were always in sight, engaged in the patriotic education of young people, then Gulaev, who was practically in no way inferior to his colleagues, remained in the shadows all the time.

Perhaps the fact is that both the military and post-war biography of the Soviet ace was rich in episodes that do not fit into the image of an ideal hero.

Nikolai Gulaev was born on February 26, 1918 in the village of Aksayskaya, which has now become the city of Aksai in the Rostov region.

Don freemen was in the blood and character of Nicholas from the first days to the end of his life. After graduating from a seven-year school and a vocational school, he worked as a mechanic at one of the Rostov factories.

Like many of the youth of the 1930s, Nikolai became interested in aviation, was engaged in the flying club. This hobby helped in 1938, when Gulaev was drafted into the army. The amateur pilot was sent to the Stalingrad Aviation School, from which he graduated in 1940.

Gulaev was assigned to the air defense aviation, and in the first months of the war he provided cover for one of the industrial centers in the rear.

Reprimand complete with award

At the front, Gulaev appeared in August 1942 and immediately demonstrated both the talent of a combat pilot and the wayward character of a native of the Don steppes.

Gulaev did not have permission for night flights, and when on August 3, 1942, in the area of ​​responsibility of the regiment, where the young pilot served, Hitler's planes appeared, experienced pilots went into the sky.

But then Nikolai was urged on by the mechanic:

- What are you waiting for? The plane is ready, fly!

Gulaev, deciding to prove that he is no worse than the "old men", jumped into the cockpit and took off. And in the very first battle, without experience, without the help of searchlights, he destroyed a German bomber.

When Gulaev returned to the airfield, the arrived general uttered: "For the fact that I took off without permission, I am reprimanding, and for the fact that I shot down an enemy plane, I am raising the rank and presenting it for a reward."

Pilot Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti

Nugget

His star shone especially brightly during the battles at the Kursk Bulge. On May 14, 1943, repelling a raid on the Grushka airfield, he single-handedly entered into battle with three Yu-87 bombers, covered by four Me-109s. Having shot down two Junkers, Gulaev tried to attack the third, but he ran out of cartridges. Without hesitating for a second, the pilot went to the ram, shooting down another bomber. The uncontrollable "Yak" of Gulaev went into a tailspin. The pilot managed to level the plane and land it at the forward edge, but on his own territory. Arriving at the regiment, Gulaev on another plane again flew on a combat mission.

In early July 1943, Gulaev, as part of a four of Soviet fighters, using the surprise factor, attacked a German armada of 100 aircraft. Having upset the battle formation, shooting down 4 bombers and 2 fighters, all four returned safely to the airfield. On this day, Gulaev's link made several sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft.

July 1943 was generally extremely productive for Nikolai Gulaev. Here is what is recorded in his flight book: "July 5 - 6 sorties, 4 victories, July 6 -" Focke-Wulf 190 "was shot down, on July 7 - three enemy aircraft were shot down in the group, on July 8 -" Me-109 "was shot down , July 12 - two U-87s were shot down.

Hero of the Soviet Union Fedor Archipenko, who happened to command the squadron where Gulaev served, wrote about him: “This was a nugget pilot who was one of the top ten aces of the country. He never shuddered, quickly assessed the situation, his sudden and effective attack created panic and destroyed the enemy's battle formation, which disrupted the aimed bombing of our troops. He was very courageous and decisive, often came to the rescue, at times one could feel the real excitement of a hunter in him ”.

Flying Stenka Razin

On September 28, 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment (205th Fighter Aviation Division, 7th Fighter Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Force, Voronezh Front), Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In early 1944, Gulaev was appointed squadron commander. His not too rapid career growth is explained by the fact that the ace's methods of educating subordinates were not entirely ordinary. So, one of the pilots of his squadron, who was afraid of getting close to the Nazis at close range, he cured of fear of the enemy, giving a burst of airborne weapons next to the wingman's cockpit. The fear of the subordinate vanished as if by hand ...

The same Fyodor Archipenko, in his memoirs, described another characteristic episode associated with Gulaev: “Flying up to the airfield, I immediately saw from the air that the parking lot of Gulaev's plane was empty ... After landing, I was told that all Gulaev's six had been shot down! Nikolai himself sat down wounded at the airfield to the attack aircraft, and nothing is known about the other pilots. After some time, the front line reported: two jumped out of the planes and landed at the location of our troops, the fate of three more is unknown ... And today, many years later, I see Gulaev's main mistake, made then, in what he took with him in battle. the departure of three young, not fired at all pilots at once, who were shot down in their first battle. True, Gulaev himself won 4 aerial victories that day at once, shooting down 2 Me-109, Ju-87 and Henschel.

He was not afraid to risk himself, but with the same ease he risked his subordinates, which at times looked completely unjustified. Pilot Gulaev did not look like "air Kutuzov", but rather like dashing Stenka Razin, who had mastered a combat fighter.

But at the same time, he achieved amazing results. In one of the battles over the Prut River, at the head of six P-39 Airacobra fighters, Nikolai Gulaev attacked 27 enemy bombers escorted by 8 fighters. In 4 minutes, 11 enemy vehicles were destroyed, of which 5 were personally by Gulaev.

In March 1944, the pilot received a short-term home leave. From this trip to the Don, he arrived withdrawn, taciturn, bitter. He rushed into battle furiously, with some transcendental fury. During a trip home, Nikolai learned that during the occupation of his father, the Nazis were executed ...

On July 1, 1944, Guard Captain Nikolai Gulaev was awarded the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for 125 sorties, 42 air battles, in which he shot down 42 enemy aircraft personally and 3 in a group.

And then another episode takes place, which Gulaev frankly told his friends about after the war, an episode that perfectly shows his violent nature from the Don.

The pilot learned that he had become twice Hero of the Soviet Union after another flight. At the airfield, fellow soldiers have already gathered, who said: the award must be "washed", there is alcohol, but there is a problem with the snack.

Gulaev recalled that when he returned to the airfield, he saw grazing pigs. With the words "there will be a snack," the ace again sits on the plane and a few minutes later puts him near the sheds, to the amazement of the mistress of the pigs.

As already mentioned, the pilots were paid for the downed planes, so Nikolai had no problems with cash. The owner willingly agreed to sell the boar, which was hardly loaded into a fighting vehicle.

By some miracle, the pilot took off from a very small platform together with a boar, distraught with horror. The combat aircraft is not designed for a plump pig to dance inside it. Gulaev barely kept the plane in the air ...

If a catastrophe happened that day, it would probably be the most ridiculous case of the death of a twice Hero of the Soviet Union in history.

Thank God, Gulaev made it to the airfield, and the regiment cheerfully celebrated the hero's award.

Another anecdotal case is related to the appearance of a Soviet ace. Once in battle, he managed to shoot down a reconnaissance aircraft piloted by a Hitlerite colonel, holder of four Iron Crosses. The German pilot wanted to meet with those who managed to interrupt his brilliant career. Apparently, the German expected to see a stately handsome man, a "Russian bear", who was not ashamed to lose ... And instead came a young, short, plump captain Gulaev, who, by the way, had a not heroic nickname "Kolobok" in the regiment. There was no limit to the German's disappointment ...

Fight with political overtones

In the summer of 1944, the Soviet command decides to withdraw the best Soviet pilots from the front. The war is coming to a victorious end, and the leadership of the USSR begins to think about the future. Those who showed themselves in the Great Patriotic War must graduate from the Air Force Academy in order to then take leading positions in the Air Force and Air Defense.

Among those who were summoned to Moscow was Gulaev. He himself was not eager to enter the academy, asked to remain in the army, but was refused. On August 12, 1944, Nikolai Gulaev shot down his last Focke-Wulf 190.

There are at least three versions of what happened, which combine two words - "brawl" and "foreigners". Let's dwell on the one that occurs most often.

According to her, Nikolai Gulaev, by that time already a major, was summoned to Moscow not only to study at the academy, but also to receive the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Considering the pilot's combat achievements, such a version does not look implausible. Gulaev's company included other honored aces who were awaiting an award.

The day before the ceremony in the Kremlin, Gulaev went to the restaurant of the Moscow Hotel, where his friends, the pilots, were resting. However, the restaurant was overcrowded, and the administrator said: "Comrade, there is no room for you!"

Saying something like that to Gulaev with his explosive character was not worth it at all, but here, unfortunately, he also came across the Romanian military, who were also relaxing in a restaurant at that moment. Not long before this, Romania, which had been an ally of Germany since the beginning of the war, had gone over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The enraged Gulaev said loudly: "Is it that there is no place for a Hero of the Soviet Union, but there are enemies?"

The words of the pilot were heard by the Romanians, and one of them issued an offensive phrase in Russian to Gulaev. A second later, the Soviet ace was near the Romanian and savagely hit him in the face.

Less than a minute later, a fight broke out in the restaurant between Romanians and Soviet pilots.

When the fighters were separated, it turned out that the pilots had beaten the members of the official military delegation of Romania. The scandal reached Stalin himself, who decided: to cancel the awarding of the third star of the Hero.

If it were not about the Romanians, but about the British or the Americans, most likely, the case for Gulaev would have ended completely deplorable. But the leader of all nations did not begin to ruin the life of his ace because of yesterday's opponents. Gulaev was simply sent to the unit, away from the front, the Romanians and, in general, any attention. But how true this version is is unknown.

General who was friends with Vysotsky

Despite everything, in 1950 Nikolai Gulaev graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, and five years later - from the General Staff Academy.

He commanded the 133rd Air Fighter Division located in Yaroslavl, the 32nd Air Defense Corps in Rzhev, and the 10th Air Defense Army in Arkhangelsk, which covered the northern borders of the Soviet Union.

Nikolai Dmitrievich had a wonderful family, he adored his granddaughter Irochka, was a passionate fisherman, loved to treat guests personally to salted watermelons ...

He also attended pioneer camps, participated in various veteran events, but still there was a feeling that an order was given above, in modern terms, not to promote his person too much.

Actually, the reasons for this were also at a time when Gulaev was already wearing general's shoulder straps. For example, he could, by his power, invite to a performance at the Officers' House in Arkhangelsk Vladimir Vysotsky ignoring the timid protests of the local party leadership. By the way, there is a version that some of Vysotsky's songs about pilots were born after his meetings with Nikolai Gulaev.

Norwegian complaint

Colonel-General Gulaev resigned in 1979. And there is a version that one of the reasons for this was a new conflict with foreigners, but this time not with Romanians, but with Norwegians.

General Gulaev allegedly set up a hunt for polar bears using helicopters near the border with Norway. Norwegian border guards contacted Soviet authorities with a complaint about the actions of the general. After that, the general was transferred to a headquarters position away from Norway, and then sent to a well-deserved retirement.

It cannot be said with certainty that this hunt took place, although such a plot fits very well into the vivid biography of Nikolai Gulaev.

Be that as it may, the resignation had a bad effect on the health of the old pilot, who could not imagine himself without the service to which his whole life was devoted.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev died on September 27, 1985 in Moscow, at the age of 67. His final resting place was the Kuntsevo cemetery of the capital.

Kozhedub Ivan Nikitich: To 62 German aircraft officially shot down by I. N. Kozhedub during the Great Patriotic War, two American fighters, shot down by him at the very end of the war, should be added. In April 1945, with a barrage burst, Kozhedub drove off a couple of German fighters from the American B-17, but was attacked by cover fighters who opened fire from a long distance. With a coup over the wing, Kozhedub swiftly attacked the extreme machine. He started to smoke and descended towards our troops (the pilot of this machine soon jumped out with a parachute and landed safely). The second photo is of his plane. - La-7 I.N. Kozhedub, 176th GvIAP, spring 1945)


2. Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich: On May 24, Pokryshkin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By this time, he had already shot down 25 enemy aircraft on his account. Three months later, he was awarded the second Gold Star. Fighting the Luftwaffe in southern Ukraine, Pokryshkin chalked up another 18 Junkers, including two high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. In November 1943, using outboard tanks, he organized a hunt for Ju 52 operating on air communications over the Black Sea. For four sorties in the conditions of changeable sea weather, the Soviet pilot sent five three-engine transporters to the bottom.

In May 1944, Pokryshkin was appointed commander of the 9th Guards Air Division, but, despite his high position, he did not stop combat missions, having won seven more victories by the end of the year. The combat activities of the most famous ace of the USSR ended in Berlin. In total, during the war years, he flew 650 sorties, conducted 156 air battles, shot down 59 enemy aircraft personally and 6 in a group. (pictured below is his plane)


3.
Gulaev Nikolai Dmitrievich: In total, during the war of the guard, Major Gulaev conducted 240 sorties, in 69 air battles he personally shot down 57 and in group 3 enemy aircraft. Its "productivity", 4 sorties per shot down, became one of the highest in Soviet fighter aviation.


4.
Evstigneev Kirill Alekseevich: In total, during the war years, he flew about 300 sorties, conducted over 120 air battles, personally shot down 52 and as part of a group - 3 enemy aircraft. "The pilot is a flint" - this is how Ivan Kozhedub spoke about him, who for some time served with Evstigneev in the same regiment.


5.
Glinka Dmitry Borisovich: After almost six months of vacation, study and replenishment, the pilots of the 100th GIAP took part in the Yassy operation. In early May, in a battle where 12 "cobras" attacked about fifty Ju-87s, Glinka shot down three bombers, and in just a week of fighting here he destroyed 6 enemy aircraft.
During the flight to the Li-2, he got into a disaster: the plane hit the top of the mountain. He and his comrades were saved by the fact that they settled in the tail of the car - they slept on aircraft covers. All other passengers and crew were killed. As a result of the accident, he received serious injuries: he was unconscious for several days. He was discharged from the hospital two months later and during the Lvov-Sandomierz operation he managed to destroy 9 German cars. In the battles for Berlin, he shot down 3 aircraft in one day, and won his last victory on April 18, 1945, at point-blank range, from 30 meters, by shooting the FV-190.
In total, during the war, he conducted about 300 sorties, 100 air battles, personally shot down 50 enemy aircraft, 9 of them on the Yak-1, the rest on the "Aircobra".